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Israel airport security stole my laptop

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Re: Israel airport security stole my laptop

#21

Post by DanBC »

cm2187 wrote: post #5
boltzmannbrain wrote: post #2

Curbside security guard asked a couple basic questions ("How long were you in Israel? Where are you traveling to?"). The guard at the first security gate inside asked ~20 questions (4-8 is normal). I think answering that I'm a SW engineer to "What do you do for a living?" made her suspicious. I was then directed to a side security area where they searched my bags and discovered my laptop. A few guards then escorted m…

I presume the first thing you did when you got your laptop back is to re-image it?

If your device has been out of your site, under the control of a well-funded government agency, and you believe that agency to be hostile then the device is compromised and the only thin you can do with it is sell it on to someone else or destroy it.

Re: Israel airport security stole my laptop

#22

Post by kkapelon »

boltzmannbrain wrote: post #2

Curbside security guard asked a couple basic questions ("How long were you in Israel? Where are you traveling to?"). The guard at the first security gate inside asked ~20 questions (4-8 is normal). I think answering that I'm a SW engineer to "What do you do for a living?" made her suspicious. I was then directed to a side security area where they searched my bags and discovered my laptop. A few guards then escorted m…

> As soon as I was through security I went to Turkish airlines for help, but their immediate (read: scripted) response was "We do not deal with airport security."

Well isn't this true? I am sorry for your ordeal but there is nothing an airline can do with this matter. Have you tried contacting the airport itself?

Re: Israel airport security stole my laptop

#24

Post by so_tired »

boltzmannbrain wrote: post #3

Yes this could have been worse, and is relatively minor compared to other mideast travel horror stories. Nonetheless I feel frustrated not only losing my computer and non-backed up materials, but because this occurs as I am helping an Israeli tech company by sharing my knowledge and expertise. There has been incredible outreach initiative in the AI research community as of late -- e.g., DL Indaba in Africa -- but thi…

> incredible outreach initiative in the AI research community as of late -- e.g., DL Indaba in Africa

Geez.

You are not "outreaching" some minority tribe here. You are selling your expertize for good money. Israel is the 2nd biggest VC market in the world (maybe 3rd after US, China?).

Sorry about your laptop though. There is current incredible outreach of Israelis to tourists who have had a bad experience while visiting.

We do our best !! Luckily your plane did not blow up.

Re: Israel airport security stole my laptop

#25

Post by devy »

Just a tangent: TLV is the most secure airport in the world though.[1] You wouldn't think the most secure airport is in the middle east but it is. Compare to Israelis' human approach, the billions dollars the U.S. spent by the corrupted TSA on invasive cancer causing body scanners and still have tons security breaches is a joke. The wikipedia page has a few reports explained in details why it works at TLV. Worth a read.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Gurion_Airport

Re: Israel airport security stole my laptop

#27

Post by colordrops »

boltzmannbrain wrote: post #2

Curbside security guard asked a couple basic questions ("How long were you in Israel? Where are you traveling to?"). The guard at the first security gate inside asked ~20 questions (4-8 is normal). I think answering that I'm a SW engineer to "What do you do for a living?" made her suspicious. I was then directed to a side security area where they searched my bags and discovered my laptop. A few guards then escorted m…

They know you work in advanced technology and stole it. Your work could be applied to military use.

Re: Israel airport security stole my laptop

#28

Post by sodosopa »

This is particularly why I leave my good MacBook at home and depend on a decent Chromebook and a throwaway Gmail acct. I can use Citrix or an Amazon Workspace if I need something more secure. If I lose it or if it’s stolen, I’m out $200-400 instead of $1200 and my data.

Re: Israel airport security stole my laptop

#29

Post by isostatic »

boltzmannbrain wrote: post #2

Curbside security guard asked a couple basic questions ("How long were you in Israel? Where are you traveling to?"). The guard at the first security gate inside asked ~20 questions (4-8 is normal). I think answering that I'm a SW engineer to "What do you do for a living?" made her suspicious. I was then directed to a side security area where they searched my bags and discovered my laptop. A few guards then escorted m…

Curbside questions? I haven't been for a few years but don't remember any of those, just the usual "I'm asking you this because I think someone may have planted a bomb in your luggage" inside the terminal. I haven't had anything approaching that level of interrogation (can you show me any evidence of what you've been working on) since my first trip in 2010 -- which was before my first Erez stamp (that's the border post before you go into Gaza).

Did you get a taxi to the airport, or dropped from a friend?

Re: Israel airport security stole my laptop

#30

Post by andrepd »

onetimemanytime wrote: post #16

Must've triggered something when they questioned you. Maybe you just made yourself non-Grata over there too by sharing this story. At least they should have said, wait, let's clone it and here is your laptop back. Unless they suspected you of economic espionage or whatever and didn't you to have it with you. Either way, unless charged with a crime it's theft.

They murder medics, outside their border, among other Geneva code violations. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for justice on a laptop "confiscation".
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